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United MileagePlus Increases Transatlantic Award Pricing

United MileagePlus Increases Transatlantic Award Pricing

Earlier this week, United quietly devalued transatlantic awards on its MileagePlus program. For the time being, it appears that this only affects flights to and from Europe; however, there could be changes to other regions at any time.

To add insult to injury, the increase in pricing affects flights with both United and partner airlines.

United MileagePlus Hikes Transatlantic Awards

Earlier this week, transatlantic flight awards operated by United and partner airlines were increased by at least 30% across the board with United MileagePlus. The hike mostly affects economy and business class awards, while premium economy pricing appears to have been spared.

Recall that MileagePlus has long done away with award charts and instead uses a form of dynamic pricing for flights operated by United and its partners. This leaves the door open for pricing to change at any time, and changes are a bit more difficult to spot than with programs that use a fixed pricing model.

To illustrate the extent of the no-warning devaluation, let’s take a look at a few examples.

Economy Saver awards for a flight from Washington DC (IAD) to Paris (CDG) now cost at least 40,000 miles, whereas previously, this route would’ve typically cost as few as 30,000 miles. This represents a 33% increase.

Meanwhile, a United Polaris Business Saver award on a flight from Washington DC (IAD) to Amsterdam (AMS) now costs at least 80,000 miles, whereas the same flight previously cost 60,000 miles, likewise representing a 33% increase.

United MileagePlus also applies dynamic pricing to awards with partner airlines, giving them free rein to increase prices at any moment. Unfortunately, transatlantic partner awards weren’t spared from this round of devaluations.

For example, a flight with TAP Air Portugal from Washington DC (IAD) to Lisbon (LIS) is now priced upwards of 40,000 miles for economy and 80,000 miles for business. This is an increase from around 30,000 and 60,000 miles, respectively.

You can see similar trends for other Star Alliance partners, too. For example, a Swiss business class flight from New York (JFK) to Geneva (GVA) now costs 88,000 miles.

But it’s not all bad news, as there are still some Saver awards that can be found for the pre-devaluation cost, at least for now. 

For example, it’s still possible to find a flight from Newark (EWR) to Amsterdam (AMS) with tickets priced at 31,800 miles.

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